What's this? In pockets of time over the past week and a bit, I've finally managed to complete another blog post. Wowza, I am over this school year. It finishes on Thursday and I'll be free of kindy and school runs until the end of January! Oh, the things I will accomplish! The free time I will have! Alright, shush, let me hold onto the dream a bit longer. For now, here's a Lime Crime Velvetine 'Velve-Tin' (cringe) I picked up for my birthday earlier in the year. There were a bunch of these available for a while, all containing three permanent shades in mini form. This is the Champagne Velve-Tin, which contains Happi (metallic), Lulu (matte) and Lana (metallic).

Formula Overview:
Velvetines are liquid lipsticks that dry to a flat matte finish. They have a thin, somewhat runny texture but are easy enough to control. If you're not too confident with the doefoot applicator, you may find it easier to use a lip brush (scooping product from the top of the tube or the wand) to outline your lips first and then fill them in with the applicator.
My personal favourite application method is to apply two thin coats, ensuring the first coat has dried completely before beginning the second. As with all matte lipsticks, Velvetines will highlight uneven or flaky lip texture. Hydrated and exfoliated lips are a must for them to look their best.

Don't let the demure stature of these minis fool you - at 2.07ml, they're not actually far off the full-size 2.6ml (which remains laughably poor value). The Velve-Tins were a much more economical option at $28USD for three shades and a cute storage tin, versus $20USD for one full-size tube. Alas, it seems that Lime Crime cottoned onto that and did away with them. The doefoot applicator is the same size as with the full-size tube, so you're not losing anything there either.

Happi

Happiis described as a 'rose bronze'. I had been intrigued by this shade in swatches online but wasn't sure how I'd like it in person, given the way I usually turn my nose up at frosts. I was pleasantly surprised in person though, it's quite pretty! It's very pigmented and the reflective sparkle is quite mesmerizing. It lasted five hours and wasn't drying.

Lulu

Luluis described as a 'peachy beige'. It's lighter and peachier than the more coral shade Bleached (reviewed here) which makes it a lot more versatile in my lipstick wardrobe. It's also a fairly predictable 'me' shade, so you know I love it! I did find the texture to be stickier than other Velvetines I've tried, which was a bit odd and not entirely pleasant, but it became less noticeable over the duration of wear - seven hours in all.

Lana

Lanais described as 'burnished bronze'. Mehhhhh. As much as I love bronze eye makeup and hoped I'd like it as a lip colour, it's not for me. Fun to try, though. Lana was a bit less pigmented than Happi although it still built up easily enough and lasted six hours.